Note- This chapter is for Maddie who asked for an update on this story.
Chapter Eleven
Carly made fast friends with the bodyguards Sonny sent over, Johnny and Marco. With them and Max , she put on the front of being in constant fear for her life because of the loan sharks that stalked her every move now.
When they showed up at her door, Johnny immediately pulled his gun and said into his walkie talkie. "We have company."
"I suggest you step aside and let us see Carly. It would be in her best interest." Jagger said in a voice that suggested it might be fatal to argue.
"The lady is now under the protection of Michael Corinthos Jr." Johnny informed him "You deal with him from this point on."
Stone stepped closer to Johnny until the muzzle of the gun the guard held bumped against his chest. "Don't make us ask a second time to see the widow Hyde."
Max was in the kitchen with Carly when the transmission came over the walkie talkie. Her eyes filled with feigned terror. She said to Max, "I had better face them. They won't leave town without seeing me."
"You don't have to," Max said "If Sonny won't take care of these guys, I can do it for you."
Carly hid her smile as she turned and went to the door. This new employee of hers was already ready to lay down his life for her. She loved that her con was working just as she planned.
She gave him one last sad look before opening the door. "Gentleman," she sneered.
"Mrs. Hyde, a pleasure as usual," Stone said in a smarmy voice.
Jagger stepped closer to her and said, "We should take this off the front stoop, don't you think? Your neighbors must already have their concerns about you considering the guards posted at your door. No need to let them all hear the real way Billy made his money..."
Carly motioned them inside. Johnny and Max followed and lingered by the door as the others sat down.
She knew she had to make this look good, so Sonny's guards would stress to him just how desperately she was in need of his protection. The more attention he paid her, the less he could spend on protecting The Ever Faithful.
Every moment she was playing the scared, helpless female she was secretly flying high. To her, working a con was like the best sex she ever had. Hot, heart racing, blood pumping pure adrenaline propelled her deeper into the con. There was only one thing she loved more in life than this.
Only one thing. Loving Jason.
Carly had a feeling it was one of these addictions- the con or The Hitter- that would eventually be the death of her.
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IN THE BACK ROOM at Luke's Club, the next day, Robert and Luke stood in front of the dry erase board while the rest of Scorpio Eight crowded into the room and found seats.
Robert had taped photos up to the wall.
He pointed at them as he began to speak "Well, boys and girls, it looks like this job just took on some angles beyond what our client filled us in on. As you can see by this," he poked his finger at a photo "Lois is hooking up with Jax behind Sonny's back. Now everyone in town knows that Ned and Jax are best friends. So either Jax is doing his buddy wrong or else..."
"Ned don't give a damn who Lois screws," Luke said.
"She all but admitted to me she's after The Ever Faithful, " Robert said " and I would bet you dollars to diamonds that she is working with both Jax and Ned.
Luke added, "Nedly probably told us this was about revenge thinking we would buy that as the reason he wants to spend all that moolah on such a cheap ass piece of so called art."
"So the painting is worth more then?" Lucky asked
Spinelli spoke up, "I've been researching it online and with my contacts overseas and street value for it won't go higher than 150K, max. But I did find out something interesting about who Corinthos was associating with about eighteen months ago. The week after his accountant, that ancient dude Bernie, turned up as a floater in the river Sonny took a meeting with Hanson Stein."
"Is that name supposed to mean something to us?" Carly asked
"Sweet C, give me a second, and all will become clear. You should know better than to rush The Jackal."
"My mistake," she said, rolling her eyes.
"That's a new one," Jason mumbled alluding to the fact she rarely admitted she had been in the wrong about anything.
Carly glared at him. He smiled. Lucky and Zander laughed.
Spinelli said, "All right, the cool thing about this Hanson dude is he is known for his custom wood working detail. He makes dressers, armoires, stuff like that. But he also is known for having a secret compartment in some of his pieces. Sonny met him in Paris. Sonny was there with this delicious bit of eye candy, Blair Cramer, and her rug rats. The meeting took place at five am in a warehouse. I figure Sonny jetted while the chick and kids were snoozing bought himself some merchandise from Hanson and got back to bed before his bed bunny was any wiser. The thing Sonny didn't count on was a surveillance camera on the bank across the street from the warehouse."
He pulled up a grainy images from the camera on his laptop. "Boo yah! Got ya!"
Spinelli continued, " Okay, check it, I knew Hanson was the guy to go to if Sonny wanted custom work done. So by figuring out the only time him and Sonny were in the same city I could figure out what cameras to hack into. I found Hanson's hotel and then his limo rental company. Used GPS records to trace the car movements, and then hacked into the nearest camera. They met, it lasted10 minutes, Sonny left carrying a brown paper wrapped package. The right shape and size for a... da.. da... da..dum... picture frame."
"Do you love the sound of your own voice or what, Jackal?" Luke complained "All we needed to know was he bought a hollowed out frame."
"What's he hiding?" Lucky asked
Everyone looked at him, with Duh expressions on their faces.
Lucky smiled, "Sorry, my brain is not clicking on all cylinders today. Emily kept me up late. Let me rephrase my question. How much cash is Sonny squirreling away, do you think?"
"This is where it gets good," Spinelli smiled "You know I always had my doubts about the intelligence of that guy... I mean he kills all these people like every day and for what? Money? Has he not heard of conning?"
Carly sighed as Spinelli rambled on.
Zander started to pace. He liked action, not all this blabbering on about what might or might not be true. If he planned the heist it would be simple:
The Hitter puts gun to Sonny boy's head. Zander asks, just once in a calm but deadly tone, for the loot. Sonny cries like a girl and gives it up.
But that would be messy and probably get them both locked up. So Zander would follow Roberts instructions to a T, ride the inevitable high that comes the moment the prize is in their hands, and use all the cash to fiancé a future with Gia and his baby.
"Lookey what I found," Spinelli said "I followed some breadcrumbs to several accounts Corinthos has off shore. He opened them a year and a half ago. The accounts he had before were slowly being siphoned by his not so loyal after all accountant."
"All right, this is starting to come into focus," Robert said. "Our local mob lord finds out Bernie is skimming and straps some cement shoes on him then tosses him into the drink. Now he doesn't want to risk that ever happening again. Faith has gotten half of his assets when she left him and humiliated him by grabbing a piece of his territory for her own. He's paranoid and feeling like he can't trust anyone but himself. So he gets the brilliant idea to stash the numbers for his accounts in the frame of The Ever Faithful-the one thing that reminds him most of Lily, who of course died before she could let him down and now will forever be his ideal portrait of love." Robert shook his head at the foolishness in that.
"But if anyone gets their hands on that painting... he loses it all." Lucky said, grinning.
"Cocky bastard must think he can stop that from being a possibility," Luke said.
Carly laughed. "This is better than I thought. Sonny will slit his wrists if he loses a huge pile cash."
Jason watched her wicked grin grow bigger, her eyes light up at the thought of a revenge so sweet, and started to smile himself. Obviously, Carly had no love loss for Sonny.
Zander stopped pacing and asked the only question that mattered to him, "How much?"
"I was wondering when someone would get around to that. I was like" he opens his mouth wide "ga ga ga...when I calculated how much is in these accounts. It will blow your minds, make you ..."
"Jackal!" Zander barked.
Robert met Spinelli's eyes "You know The Kid has no patience. Lets hear it."
Spinelli let a moment pass, to ratchet up the tension, and then announced "220 million dollars, give or take a few pennies."
Carly squealed with delight.